Do the Lightroom lens correction tools make good lenses less important?

Lightroom has Lens Correction tools such as Distortion, Vignetting, Chromatic Abberation, etc. depending on the brand and model of lens.

Due to this feature, is it less relevant what the distortion quality is of lenses because Lightroom can correct them?

I understand a perfect lens is always better, but since it can save a huge amount of money, maybe the expense is not worth it?

Answer

The lens correction software may be able to counter lens distortion and chromatic aberration distortion. Also perhaps it can counter poor contrast to some degree. But a good lens has more to offer:

• Sharper image. The lens correction cannot restore image detail lost due to an unsharp lens.


• Aperture. Good quality lenses typically have a larger aperture. You cannot recreate the narrow depth of field from these larger apertures. And in low-light, you can only compensate by raising the iso on the camera, leading to more noise (which may be removed by software, but produces a softer image)


• Quality of the bokeh. A good quality lens produces a more pleasing bokeh than a cheap lens.


• Faster focus.


• Non rotating front element, making it possible to work with petal shaped lens hoods and polarizing filters


• It is nice to have something in the hand that feels solidly build

So you cannot let good software be a replacement for a good lens. IMHO, you should get the best possible lens within your budget that suits your needs.